Psalm 43

Lloyd Cain, Halifax, N.S.

The forty-third Psalm is a little song of only
five verses and is really an appendix to the forty-second Psalm.
This is witnessed by the fact that right here in the middle of
the maschil psalms, there stands this one, without title and
which continues the theme of the previous one, "Why art thou
cast down, 0 my soul? Hope thou in God for I shall yet praise
Him."

Psalm 42 could be entitled in our terminology,
"There is light at the end of the tunnel." In verses
1-4, we see The Thirsting of the Troubled Soul. In that section,
he is lamenting the reality that he cannot get into the presence
of God and compared himself to the hart panting after the water
brooks. There has been a prolonged drought in his soul. There is
his present distress as witnessed by the trials, the tears and
the taunts. There is the promised delight as he asks, "When
shall I come and appear before God?" He remembers better
times and as he contemplates these days, he thinks of the
pleasures, the praises and the people with whom he had gone to
keep holy day.

In the second section, (vv. 5-7), he deals with
The Trials of the Tested Soul. From the despair contained in the
cry, "Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul," he proceeds
to the disquietness, the turmoil within his soul and the distance
he feels. He feels the depths as he says, "all Thy breakers
and billows have gone over me." He sees himself as one
standing alone in the midst of a troubled sea and wondering if
the next wave will be the end of him.

As so often happens in the psalms, he closes
with The Triumphs of the Trusting Soul (8- 11). Jehovah, the
covenant keeping God will command his loving-kindness in the
morning. El, the God of creation, is his Rock. The God of the
promises and the God of power will be the cause of his rejoicing.

As we meditate upon Psalm 43, the appendix to
the previous one, we see three sections as follows: 1-2, 3-4 and
verse five. We could entitle the first section, Defend Me from
the Adversary. He cries out for a solicitor in the words
"...plead my cause against an ungodly nation. Deliver me
from the deceitful and unjust man."He cries for
strength in the words "Thou art the God of my
strength." Because of the oppression of the enemy that he
feels so keenly, he speaks of his need of solace. To whom can he
turn? Who can meet the great need of his soul?

With what ease we can relate to his plaintive
cry! How often we also feel the sorrow of the Psalmist and of the
despair of the disciples when they cried "Carest Thou not
that we perish?" (Mark 4:2). "Why dost thou cast me
off?" becomes our cry as well.

The second part of the psalm could be called
Direct me to the Altar. Let us note the progression as he goes to
the holy hill and from there to "Thy tabernacles" and
thence to the altar of God for there he will find the God whom he
calls God, the joy of my rejoicing." How often in the
trials which God has designed to bring us closer to Him, we
actually fail to come to the altar. The psalmist knows that when
he reaches the altar, he will find a joy that does not come from
circumstances and therefore should not be affected by
circumstances. Paul had by experience learned this lesson which
most of us apparently miss, and was able to write, "I have
learned in whatsoever state I am to be content." The
"therewith" must be omitted for Pauls
circumstances did not affect his contentment because they were
not the source of the contentment. How could he have reached such
a point in his spiritual growth? How could he still say "I
count not myself to have apprehended..." He still had room
to grow.

In the third section, which we would like to
entitle, Deliver me from my Absurd Thinking, he asks again,
"why are thou cast down, O my soul?" In our language,
we would perhaps say "Let me get to the bottom of my
thinking." Is it my foes? (1 John 4:4). Is it my friends?
(Prov. 18:24). Is it family? (Psa. 27;10). Is it the fellowship
of which I am a part? (3 John). Is it finances? (Gen. 15:1). Is
it the frailty of my body? (Psa. 39:4; 103:14). Can any of these
things separate me from the love of Christ? God is cognizant! God
cares. God is capable. God is in control and the previously
troubled but now restored could write, "I shall yet praise
Him." "Yet" is a very positive word. It is the
assurance that God is still alive. Why should the psalmist live
as if God was no more? Let us hurry to the Throne of Grace and
obtain mercy and grace for seasonable succor.